Recap: Celtics 110, Bulls 105

Posted by Mike Salvucci on Nov 6, 2010 1043616 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F11%2F06%2Frecap-celtics-110-bulls-105%2FRecap%3A+Celtics+110%2C+Bulls+1052010-11-06+04%3A13%3A25Mike+Salvuccihttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D10436

ESPN Box Score • Blog a Bull • By The Horns

Offensive Efficiency: 107.5 points/100 possessions

Defensive Efficiency: 102.6 points/100 possessions

Pace: 93

Hey everyone. Forgot to introduce myself before the Bucks preview on Wednesday, so I will now. I’m Mike and I’m the new intern at Celtics Hub. Besides doing everything that B-Robb and Brendan tell me, I’ll be posting a few times a week. Go Celts!

As for the game…

Here we go again. For the second game in a row, the C’s needed overtime to come away with a victory. Obviously this isn’t ideal, as the Celts’ veterans probably don’t need to be adding on extra minutes this early in the season. But at the same time, this was a pretty exciting game. Yes, the Celtics let a 16-point 3rd quarter lead slip away. Yes, this became a bit of a habit last year and I’m sure it’s something that Doc will address with the team. But to the Bulls’ credit, they executed very well during the last 18 minutes of regulation. They battled their way back into the game. The Celtics didn’t have an answer inside for Joakim Noah (26 points), and Tom Thibodeau had his team playing hard on defense (not surprisingly). So in the end, I think the Celtics need to be pleased with the way they responded after falling behind late in the 4th quarter.

Some notes on the game:

* Ray Allen’s dunk over Kyle Korver on a beautiful pass from Paul Pierce was probably the highlight of the game. But the two key plays for the Celtics were 1)Rajon Rondo swiping the ball away from Derrick Rose at the end of regulation, and 2) Kevin Garnett hustling back and poking the ball away from Noah on a fast break. Once again, finding ways to make big defensive plays down the stretch of games.

*Rondo vs. Rose was all the hype coming into tonight, and they both had solid games (Rondo: 10 points, 11 assists, Rose: 18,9). Watching Rondo over the years, it’s rare to find him matched up against someone with that same kind of speed. Seeing the affect that Rose’s dribble-drives had on our defense really shows how valuable it is to have that type of point guard.

But my favorite part about watching them play against each other was seeing how competitive they got. Each time Rose scored, Rondo immediately got the ball from the inbound and sprinted toward Chicago’s hoop. And Rose did the same when Rondo scored. It’s got to be a good sign when your team’s point guard cares as much as these guys do.

*Slightly worrisome how effective Chicago’s front line was tonight. Noah and Taj Gibson essentially did whatever they wanted and combined for 17-27 shooting.

*The bench was a big advantage for the Celtics, as they outscored Chicago’s bench 37-19. Marquis Daniels was arguably the Celtics’ best player during the first half, scoring 11 of his season-high 13 points. He’s definitely the type of player that constantly needs to be slashing to the basket. Tonight, that’s exactly what he was doing and it led to easy shots in and around the paint.

*Ray had 25 points on 12 shots. Gotta love those games when it seems Ray just can’t miss.

*Obviously it was great to see such large ovations for Thibodeau and Scalabrine in their return to the Garden. Wonder how long it will be before Pierce forgets about that block by Scal?